The Contest Of The Puppy
by haveyounomercy
Summary: Ohtori finds a puppy, and soon an intense battle to be the owner begins. Ohtori worries, Shishido's in China and Atobe is disgusted.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Written as a challenge from ****Judge Claude Frollo****. This is my first shot at a PoT multi-chaptered FanFic, so give me a note if you think anything's going wrong. I accept all kinds of reviews, be them one-liners or flames.**

**This is the first chapter, i.e. the introductory chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Let's be reasonable now, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter 1

"Then it's decided. Shishido will be our representative!" The teacher pointed in Shishido's face with a flourish.

Shishido, who had been daydreaming the whole day of a certain silver-haired sweetheart, snapped to attention.

"Huh? What?" Shishido looked around the class for clues of what he had just been represented for.

On the blackboard, there were several names, all crossed out except for his. Next to the names, was a big circled "China".

This did not look good.

* * *

"Shishido-san's in China?" Ohtori asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, he's our class' representative." Oshitari smiled.

"For what?" Ohtori asked nervously.

"Every year Hyoutei sends three students from Class 3-A, Class 3-B and Class 3-C to attend a meeting with our Chinese sister school Hou Jiang. I nominated Shishido, because it would put the Tennis Club in the favour of the higher-ups." Oshitari explained.

Gakuto crinkled his nose. "And here I thought you were still mad about him breaking your glasses yester-"

"Shut up, Gakuto." Oshitari smiled.

"But will he be okay?" Ohtori, still worried, fretted.

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine." Oshitari said dismissively, in a way that no sane person would trust.

"Okay then." Ohtori smiled, trusting Oshitari.

"What are you doing in here? Practice has long started." Atobe entered the locker room, raising an eyebrow at the three Regulars still in there.

"Y-yes Atobe-san!" Ohtori immediately stood up straighter and resisted the urge to salute.

* * *

As Ohtori walked home, images of Shishido flew through his mind, and he wondered how he was going to survive 1 whole week without him.

The rain gently pattered against his umbrella, and he looked around dejectedly.

He had borrowed an umbrella from Hiyoshi, because he hadn't wanted to trouble the driver by driving home from Hyoutei. The driver had already called him twice, making sure that he hadn't died of the cold yet.

Looks like he was just a bother to everyone.

At times like this Shishido would have comforted him, saying, "Ohtori, you're not being a bother to anyone, so stop putting yourself down. It's lame."

Come to think of it, wasn't Shishido's house near this area? Ohtori remembered this was always where they would part, Shishido heading off down that path with those brick-lined walls with a puppy traveling on top of…

Ohtori blinked. What was that puppy doing up there?

He walked closer, and smiled in amusement. The puppy was small, and had silver fur that was pretty drenched. Its ears were stuck to its head in sadness, and it looked quite lost.

"Come here, puppy…" Ohtori couldn't help it. It was just so adorable; he had to take it home. He'd bring it to Hyoutei tomorrow and ask if anyone had lost their puppy.

Smiling down at the ball of cuteness, he could've sworn the puppy smiled back at him.

Maybe if no one claimed it, he would keep it himself.

* * *

"Eh, what's that, Ohtori?" Gakuto stuck his ever-nosy face near the thing Ohtori was cradling in his arms.

"It's a puppy I found yesterday." Ohtori smiled down at the puppy. "I asked if anyone recognized it, but no one has seen it before." He sighed.

"It's so cute! You should name it Yuushi!" Gakuto grinned.

"Gakuto, what are you doing?" Oshitari, upon hearing the conversation, rolled his eyes.

"I think you should name it Geki." Hiyoshi muttered, apparently taking interest in the cute puppy.

"I don't know. It looks like a Mari-chan to me." Oshitari mused. Eventually, they decided that it was to be named Mari-chan.

"Practice has starte-" Atobe paused. "What is that… thing?"

"It's a puppy, isn't it adorable?" Gakuto snatched it away from Ohtori and shoved it in Atobe's face.

"Get that vile thing away from Ore-sama's beautiful face!" Atobe backed away. "Who knows what kind of diseases it might have? Ore-sama forbids that disgusting Swine Flu Carrier from the courts. Could the owner please take it somewhere far, far away from here?"

"That was ridiculous, Atobe. Mari-chan's just a puppy." Oshitari responded to Atobe airily.

"Yeah, besides, only Mexican pigs have Swine Flu!" Gakuto chimed in.

Everyone turned to look at Gakuto slowly.

"Gakuto, do you even know what Swine Flu is?" Hiyoshi asked.

"Yeah…" Gakuto answered. He looked like he was going to launch into a full explanation of how Swine Flu was caused, and how it was going to kill all the Mexican pigs in the world.

"It doesn't matter. All Ore-sama asks is that the owner of that… thing takes it away." Atobe flicked his hair over his shoulder, successfully hitting Kabaji in the face.

The 4 other Regulars looked at one another.

"It's mine." They all said at once. Well, Ohtori said something more along the lines of "I'll take care of it.", but same thing, right?

"Well, whose is it?" Atobe asked impatiently.

"I named it." Oshitari said.

"I like it." Hiyoshi argued.

"I think it's cute." Gakuto glared.

"I… found it." Ohtori said meekly.

"This is hopeless. Ore-sama expects this problem to be solved by tomorrow." Atobe sighed. "Let's go, Kabaji."

"Usu." Kabaji gave a lingering look at Mari-chan before following Atobe dutifully.

"Yes. Let's settle this like men." Oshitari gave a menacing look to the others.

"Of course." Hiyoshi agreed, hand reaching for his tennis racket.

"I propose…" Oshitari continued suspensefully…

"Just say it already, Yuushi!" Gakuto said, exasperated.

"Why can't we just use Rock-Paper-Scissors?" Ohtori suggested timidly.

"Guitar Hero. My house. After practice." Oshitari glared. "...Is what I would say if my mother's friends weren't visiting. So, I propose we all head over to Ohtori-kun's house."

"Sure…" Ohtori was just happy to be of use.

"Okay then, Guitar Hero it is! Get ready to have your ass kicked!" Gakuto cheered.

"Language!" Ohtori said, appalled.

"Gekokujou." Hiyoshi, a bit disappointed in not being able to play tennis, muttered.

"It's settled, then." Oshitari smiled.

"Is it settled yet?" Atobe's yell from the courts hit the locker room.

"Alright then. Mari-chan, you stay here." Oshitari instructed the puppy.

"Be good, Mari-chan." Ohtori smiled.

"Don't mess with my stuff." Hiyoshi warned.

"You can play with this." Gakuto gave the puppy Atobe's expensive Hyoutei jacket.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Ohtori worried.

"Don't worry; clothes can't catch Swine Flu either!" Gakuto reassured.

"I'm not so sure about that." Hiyoshi muttered sarcastically as he walked out the locker room.

"All the better then." Gakuto grinned as he bounced out the door, dragging Oshitari out with him.

"I hope Shishido-san comes back soon…" Ohtori sighed as he pulled the locker room shut.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Thank you to all the lovely reviewers! The reviews made me grin! **

**I'm accepting challenges for them to do, so if you have an idea, put it in a review or PM me and I'll think about adding it! **

**Disclaimer: Let's be reasonable now, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter 2

They all stared at Choutarou's ridiculously big TV, where the High Scores for Guitar Hero were being shown.

"You're kidding me!" Gakuto cried. No one was really surprised at his score, though. During Guitar Hero, Gakuto had tried to show off some of his acrobatic moves to Mari-chan, so he had missed many of the notes.

He, out of all four of them, had been last, with a score of 1056.

Choutarou, surprisingly, was a long-shot away from Gakuto, with a score of 1478. The others chalked it off as playing the game so much he had become pretty good after watching him move his fingers quickly along with the pace of the game. But he was far from being a pro.

Oshitari had done it almost flawlessly, while looking carefree and confident. A smirk played on his lips as his fingers danced around the guitar neck and his body swung to the music a little, as well. He had lived up to his name of the Tensai of Hyoutei.

Hiyoshi had done it almost perfectly as well, but in an entirely different way. Like always, he was serious, maybe too serious. He looked like he was preparing to eat little children instead of trying to beat Oshitari at Guitar Hero. His moves were quick, sharp and hard. Choutarou had worried that he would break the little plastic guitar.

They had both achieved a score of 2584. Glaring at each other, they turned back to the TV, which was showing the impossible.

Standing at the top of the screen, sat in a comfortable position, was:

"1. Shishido – 3690"

"So… who won?" Hiyoshi asked.

"…I don't know." Oshitari, for once, didn't have a witty remark to say.

"How did this happen?" Asked Gakuto, still upset at his score.

"Well… Shishido-san's been to my house a couple of times, so…" Choutarou fidgeted.

"Yeah, we knew that." Oshitari gestured to a stray blue cap on the floor, which had obviously been forgotten and left there by Shishido.

"Does he have a million of those or something?" Gakuto huffed. He promptly kicked the cap across the room.

Choutarou made a sort of strangled noise.

"Stupid fast reflexes." Gakuto grumbled.

"Gakuto, stop being a sore loser." Hiyoshi mumbled.

"Says the one who hide in the locker room after he got beaten by a certain snotty captain." Gakuto shot back.

"You want to fight?" Hiyoshi stepped forward.

"Bring it, mushroom head!" Gakuto accused.

"Please stop fighting!" Choutarou moaned in the corner.

"Just shut up and take your losses like men." Oshitari said at the same time.

Hiyoshi glared, but became silent.

Gakuto just huffed like the priss he was.

In the background, Mari-chan made a funny-sounding noise.

"What was that?" Gakuto rushed to her side. "A fur ball?"

"Mari-chan's not a cat, Gakuto." Oshitari sighed. "I thought it looked sort of like a yawn."

"Is she sleepy? I'll go get something for her to sleep on." Choutarou fretted.

"No, wait." A grin spread on Gakuto's face. "I have the perfect idea for a challenge!"

* * *

Choutarou sighed. He looked down at his blank sheet of paper. He really didn't know why he was doing this.

When Gakuto had proposed the idea of designing a small doghouse for Mari-chan, he had been excited, and seconded the idea.

But now, he was just aggravated, and confused.

What did Mari-chan like? What colours? What patterns?

No, he was thinking too much into things. Just pick a theme, and go from there, he told himself.

Five minutes later, his sheet was still blank.

He had already stopped thinking about Mari-chan, and was now dreaming of Shishido. Suddenly, China seemed a world away.

Snapping back to the present, he racked his brains.

What was popular? What did people like?

A thought hit him. Of course! Everyone loved puppies! He'd make a puppy themed doghouse for the puppy!

And with that, he began to work.

* * *

Hiyoshi was torn. He couldn't decide. Would he design a doghouse with dog _biscuits_, or dog _bones_? It was a tough decision.

Both would appeal to Mari-chan, he was sure. But, which one would be better? He looked at his watch. 1 hour and 25 minutes left.

Stupid Gakuto and his stupid ideas. He was about to tear his hair out.

With nothing else to think of, he pulled his cell phone out.

"I want a survey of every dog or dog owner you can survey in 1 hour. Ask if the dogs like dog bones or dog biscuits better." He closed his phone.

To kill time, he wrote out new ways to "gekokujou" Atobe on his paper.

* * *

Oshitari had long finished his design, because he was a genius, after all.

* * *

Gakuto was letting his artistic abilities run wild. Well, letting his Picasso abilities run wild would be a more accurate term, but the art of Picasso is art, is it not?

The blotches on his papers looked like a colourful mess.

Nevertheless, it looked very creative and sort of nice.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead and grinned.

"It's a masterpiece!" He proclaimed.

* * *

After they had called their respective builders, the rich little twerps from Hyoutei looked at each other's doghouses.

Choutarou's was undeniably the cutest; a white doghouse with a little light blue roof, and various cute puppies decorated the sides and walls of the house. On the roof, there was a small button that would make a "woof" sound every time someone pressed it.

Hiyoshi's was a light shade of green; with various dog bones and dog biscuits (the survey had been a tie) put on the walls. Some were fake, and some were real, so Mari-chan could take a nibble every now and then.

Oshitari's was… a miniature version of Atobe's house, I mean, _mansion_. Down to every last detail, the doghouse was styled perfectly. He stood behind his work, smirking. After all, Atobe only had the best, so of course this doghouse would be the best, right?

Gakuto's looked like it had been attacked by a mass of children wielding finger-paint. The main colour had been black, and there were splashes of red, white, yellow, green and blue all over it. It looked exceedingly good, though.

They looked at each other silently. Each one thought that theirs was the best (except Choutarou, he thought each one of theirs was amazing), but felt the urge to compliment each other.

"Let's let Mari-chan decide." Oshitari suddenly spoke out.

"Yes." They all agreed. They looked around the room.

They found her at last, curled up in a ball and sleeping softly.

In Shishido's hat.

* * *

**A/N I guess the score for this chapter is:**

**Gakuto : 0**

**Oshitari : 0**

**Choutarou : 0**

**Hiyoshi : 0**

**(Shishido : 2)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Sorry for such a late chapter! I feel like slapping myself. I couldn't come up for any ideas for challenges, so this story was pushed back until I got an idea. So please, give me requests for challenges! Please!**

**In this chapter, I take some, er, people that I know of and casually insert them in. This'll be a one-time appearance for these people only, though. You'll know who you are, I guarantee it.**

**Disclaimer: Let's be reasonable now, shall we?**

* * *

"I'm hungry!" Gakuto whined as he hit a ball over the side of the net.

"Save your whining for after we beat you." Hiyoshi muttered as he returned it.

"On the contrary, the score says otherwise, Hiyoshi-kun." Oshitari smirked as he hit a straight shot right to Ohtori.

"Can't we all just get along?" Ohtori hit it back with little feeling, too sad that it had already been 3 days without playing doubles with Shishido.

"Listen, silver-brain, there is nothing that we can agree on other than tennis." Hiyoshi scored a point against Oshitari and Gakuto, and he did something of a grin.

"And Mari-chan." Oshitari added as he calmly served.

"That's right, when are we going to have our next competition?" Gakuto asked impatiently.

"How about today?" Ohtori asked timidly.

"How about you practice seriously?" Atobe's voice rang across the court.

"Okay. My house, after practice." Oshitari smirked. "Baking contest."

"Baking contest?" Hiyoshi echoed, missing the shot.

"I saw Mari-chan nibbling on your doghouse the other day, so the owner should be able to provide her with the necessary nutrients. Each of us will have to come up with a biscuit, and we'll see just how good it is for her." Oshitari explained.

"That seems fair enough." They all agreed.

"Now that you all have sorted things out, can we actually finish this game?" Hiyoshi muttered.

"Of course." Oshitari grinned.

* * *

To make it short and sweet (because the author couldn't be bothered to make long descriptions of which vitamins were put in and how they would affect Mari-chan and whatnot), Ohtori won.

Hiyoshi, still ticked after he had lost the match against Oshitari and Gakuto, had made something sloppy and jam-packed with strength-building vitamin sources. The judge that had inspected all the biscuits said that Hiyoshi had just made a steroid biscuit.

Gakuto's biscuit had been healthy and nutritious, but only to a human. A dog would get nothing in return by eating it other than being full.

Oshitari's was runner-up, and the judge had awed by his biscuit-making prowess.

Unfortunately, everyone knows Ohtori is King Of All Things Cooking, so he won pretty easily.

"It's not fair! It's so obvious Ohtori has an advantage over us!" Gakuto had whined.

"You're just saying that because you lost, you sore loser." Hiyoshi glared, even though he had been thinking the same thing.

"Um, we can have another competition if you want…" Ohtori said nervously.

"Let's do that." Oshitari agreed, getting upset on how he was placing second in every single round.

"Oh I know!" Gakuto brightened.

"What?" The others asked curiously.

"We'll see who can teach puppies the most obedience and tricks!" Gakuto grinned. "We can each get our own puppies, have 1 hour to practice with them and then we have to show off the learned moves!"

"You know what, I like that idea." Hiyoshi half-smiled. To him, it seemed just like a test fit for a (future) captain with good leadership qualities.

"I guess it's decided then." Ohtori smiled in relief.

"Let's begin, starting… now!" They all ran off to different corners of the house, leaving a rather bemused food judge staring after them.

"Uh… hello?" His voice echoed through the empty hallway.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen." Gakuto stood on the stage that Oshitari just happened to have in his house. Oh come on, you know just as well as I do how absurdly rich these kids are.

"Presenting…" Gakuto stretched his arm out to someone offstage. He made a 'come' gesture. "Doro-chan!"

Nothing happened.

Gakuto frowned. He went offstage and pulled a sleepy-looking puppy onstage.

"Now, for our first trick!" Gakuto stood beside the puppy and grinned. "Heel!"

Doro just sat there, looking for all the world like it was going to fall asleep.

"Okay, and now," Gakuto made a sleeping posture. "Sleep!"

Doro fell over on one side and closed its eyes.

"It's dead!" Thought the other 3 Regulars at once.

"And for our final act…" Gakuto took out a bull horn from offstage. "WAKE UP!" He yelled into it.

Doro woke up immediately and stared lifelessly into the audience.

"Awesome, right?" Gakuto grinned excitedly.

The others made polite clapping noises, as they wondered if Gakuto really spent an hour only practising those three 'tricks'.

The next one up was Oshitari.

"This is Gabi." Oshitari gestured to the small puppy next to him. It made a grunting noise.

All in all, it looked bored.

"Bark." Oshitari commanded.

Gabi barked.

"Shake." Gabi looked at Oshitari and his outstretched hand. If it was human, it would've probably said something like, "Are you kidding me?"

Nevertheless, it shook paws with Oshitari.

It went on like this in this boring way for another 5 minutes. Gabi had executed everything asked, but with absolutely no emotion at all. At the end, it just walked off the stage, leaving Oshitari standing there.

Oshitari didn't really look like he minded.

"Eh, let's give it our best shot, Takeru-kun." Ohtori said too his slightly larger puppy.

In response, Takeru leapt up and tackled Ohtori to the ground.

"Heel! Heel! Heel!" It took only about 5 shouts for Takeru to get off of Ohtori. After he did, he sat on the floor excitedly and thumped his tail on the ground.

"Shake." Ohtori gave his hand.

Takeru barked happily and did what he was asked. It went on like this, with them both messing up once in a while, but you could tell that Takeru had been happy 'playing' with Ohtori.

"Geki. Come out here." Hiyoshi had commanded. A stern-looking dog had trotted onstage and sat at Hiyoshi's feet.

What commenced was a great deal of entertainment.

Hiyoshi had gotten Geki to shake, heel, turn, roll over, hold a tennis racket in his mouth, rip a picture of Atobe to shreds and as a final act, Hiyoshi had thrown a crumpled paper of at Geki, saying the words "Gekokujou."

Geki had head-butted the paper ball, and succeeded in hitting his target.

Gakuto's face.

Hiyoshi bowed as he left the stage, ignoring Gakuto's angry screams.

* * *

It was pretty unanimous in deciding the winner. Gakuto, in bitter spite, had protested, but Hiyoshi ended up winning the challenge anyways.

Later, he tried to convince Mari-chan to shake hands.

"Shake." He said.

Mari-chan just looked up at him with a face one could interpret as disgust.

In fact, the air surrounding Mari-chan seemed to be very familiar…

They all stared for a few minutes.

"Is it just me…" Ohtori muttered.

"…Or did Mari-chan just say 'that's lame'?" Gakuto finished.

They all stared once again.

Mari-chan, deciding she was too important to stay there pleasing them, went over to the corner of the room and knocked over a tube of tennis balls.

Ignoring the mess, it played around, but only touching a certain brand of tennis balls. No one seemed to notice this but Ohtori.

With pain, he realized that those balls were the only type Shishido used. Just 4 more days… He thought quietly to himself.

* * *

**What's this? Miniscule angst? Anyways, here are the results:**

**Gakuto : 0**

**Oshitari : 0**

**Ohtori : 1**

**Hiyoshi : 1**

**(Shishido : 3)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N It's here! The second-last chapter! The next chapter will answer all questions, and if you have any other questions, put it in a PM or a review please.**

**On that note, thanks to all the lovely reviewers so far! You all have made this story so much fun to write!**

**Disclaimer: Let's be reasonable now, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter 4

It was a cloudy day, and the Regulars had just finished practising when a few rain droplets fell on Atobe's hair. Perhaps that was the start of it all.

"How horrible, Ore-sama's hair is ruined!" Atobe looked disgusted as another drop fell onto his graceful nose. Contrary to popular belief, if Atobe wasn't motivated (such as playing a tennis match), he couldn't stand any kind of foul weather. He tolerated a gentle wind, especially if it caressed his hair _just_ the right way, but that was pretty much it.

Anyways, this story isn't about Atobe. Although he would like to believe so.

Oshitari, this particular day, had been looking at Atobe that very moment that Atobe began to shake his head vigorously from side to side, looking very much like one of those movies with those hot young men getting out of the pool, shaking their head to get rid of the water…

Right. Story. Moving on, Oshitari smirked, and beckoned Ohtori and Hiyoshi over to where he and Gakuto were practising doubles.

"What is it?" They asked, looking at Oshitari quizzically.

"I have the perfect idea for the next challenge." He leaned in into the circle the other three had unconsciously made around him.

* * *

"What are those fools doing?" Atobe cast a glance at the four Regulars who were busy huddling in a circle, eyes set with determination.

"Oh! I know! They're performing a sundance!" Jirou leapt up and began dancing random dance moves; dancing his way to the huddled circles while chanting, "Sun! Sun! Sun!"

"Our team is made up of fools, naa Kabaji?" Atobe, upon hearing no response, looked beside him to find that the 2nd year was gone.

He spied him across the courts, grunting along with Jirou's dance, by request of course.

He shook his head, and smirked to himself. He shouldn't really have that much confidence in his team; it would only end up badly. Just because he was a perfect and holy being, didn't mean they were. Sometimes he just set the bar too high. The poor souls, having always to look up to him. He walked away, amusing himself with his thoughts.

Might as well let them have their fun, he thought. At least, for a little while. Besides, no one could practice in this horrid drizzle.

* * *

"So, I have scouted out many Mari-chan look-a-likes, and here they stand." Oshitari gestured towards the small, silver-furred puppies to his left. Again, they were in his house, carrying out their little challenge.

"Your task, as I explained before, is to clean these particular puppies." On his cue, the puppies (who were standing a ways away from Oshitari in an enclosed glass cabinet), were drenched with mud by a bucket from above. Several servants then carried the puppies to the next room, where spacious shower stalls stood.

"You have 10 minutes to get to the room, find a puppy and clean it to the best of your ability." Oshitari said, feeling a lot like a game show host. "At the buzzer, you must put down all your cleaning equipment (which will be given to you) and bring the puppy back here." He paused, and walked towards the exit of the room they were currently in.

He looked back at the others. "Begin." He called out as he quickly exited the room, and let the other three budge and nudge their way through the door. Actually, Ohtori sort of stood there and waited patiently until Gakuto and Hiyoshi fought their way past each other and out the door. But that's not the point.

The point is; the clock had started ticking.

* * *

Oshitari, unsurprisingly, moved quickly and efficiently. His movements were sharp, his reflexes quick. You could tell he obviously had experience in the area of animal washing.

Ohtori's movements were gentle and delicate. So delicate, in fact, that he had to redo the sections several times with his soft-bristled brush before it was actually clean.

Gakuto thought the way to clean something was dunk it repeatedly in a bucket of soapy water. Needless to say, he didn't use his brush at all.

Hiyoshi, as always, looked like he was going to eat the puppy instead of washing. The puppy, terrified, kept backing away and whimpering, making it extremely difficult for Hiyoshi to wash him.

* * *

"You beautiful, thing, I'm going to make you absolutely shine with beauty. Even the great Atobe Keigo will awe at your clean prowess." _Brush, brush, brush._ Oshitari cooed to his puppy.

"Nice puppy. You are so pretty, I'm so amazed. Isn't this fun?" _Scrish, scrish, scrish._ More cooing, courtesy of Ohtori.

"Haha, are you having fun? I bet this is the best bath ever!" _Plosh, plosh, plosh._ No cooing for Gakuto, no. Dunking small things in water was to exciting to coo at.

"Get back here, you." _Whimper, whimper, whimper._ Hiyoshi frowned. He wasn't that scary, right?

* * *

_Bzzzzzzzt!_

They all dragged their wet puppies back into the main room. Oshitari didn't even cringe at the soiled carpet, but the butlers certainly did.

"I think it's pretty obvious who won." Hiyoshi grumbled. He looked at the four puppies, standing side by side.

There was one who was so clean that its fur practically shined, one tidy-looking one, one completely drenched with traces of mud still on its fur, and one that was relatively clean, but particularly ruffled.

"I'll be taking the victory for this one, then." Oshitari announced. The others had no choice but to agree.

"I think your challenge was pretty cheap, focusing on something you're good at." Gakuto muttered.

"Then you suggest something else." Oshitari shrugged. "I'm still going to beat you." He looked at Mari-chan for a while, who was bored. "You know, I'm going to give Mari-chan a nice bath."

He picked her up, and at that moment, Mari-chan calmly peed on Oshitari's hands, much to the amusement of Gakuto.

"Well, since we're so obviously getting along so well with each other, why don't we see who Mari-chan gets along with the most?" Was the question Ohtori proposed after Oshitari came back from washing his hands.

Everyone looked at Ohtori with a blank face.

"…Sorry." Ohtori apologized, his attempt at settling it tossed away.

"Wait, we all have pets, right?" All the Regulars slowly nodded at Gakuto.

"Then why don't we see whose pet gets along the most with Mari-chan? After all, she'll have to get used them if she moves in with us, right?"

Everyone mulled this over in their heads, then slowly nodded their agreement.

* * *

Once they had all called their respective butlers and escorted their pets to Oshitari's home, the challenge started.

It was wild, to say the least.

"Woof!" Mari-chan woofed happily at the new animal in front of her.

"Woof!" It said back. But it wasn't a dog.

The parrot cocked its head to one side, and started imitating all of Mari-chan's sayings. It went on like this until the parrot reached out and nudged Mari-chan with its head.

That's when they discovered that parrots and puppies have really, really good chemistry.

They ran/flew around everywhere, over/under people, furniture, and it was like one big hectic game of tag, where the humans would fall over and crush an animal if they got too confused.

They had to pry the parrot away from Mari-chan at the end, much to the disappointment of the two.

But Mari-chan soon found a new play-buddy.

"Meow." The slender black cat purred. It's sleek fur shined and Mari-chan looked at the new animal with amazement. Never before had she seen something so… sophisticated. Mari-chan knew she sure did like it, though.

That is, until it tried to get close to it, which only ended in a scary hiss and an outstretched claw.

Mari-chan decided that however pretty it was, it wasn't fun.

"Woof." Mari-chan looked down. A small hamster looked up at it. Curious, the hamster reached up to touch Mari-chan's nose.

After a few minutes, the hamster managed to get on top of the puppy's head, and was fully enjoying the ride it was being given.

That is, until Mari-chan caught sight of the parrot again.

"SQUEAK!" Went the hamster as it flew into the air as Mari-chan went on a furious pace towards the parrot. The parrot and Mari-chan began another rousing game of tag.

"My hamster… Poor little Kitsune-chan…" Mourned Ohtori. (He really would be sadder, but inside him, he knew that the next day Shishido was coming back from China.)

"Get that cat away from my Haru-kun!" Hiyoshi, alarmed, half-screamed at Oshitari as he held his beloved lizard high up in the air.

"Are you saying Mi-chan is dangerous?" Oshitari asked in a warning tone, stroking his cat.

"He cut off my lizard's tail!" Replied aggravated Hiyoshi, frantically trying to reassure his lizard.

"It'll grow back." Oshitari shrugged.

"Does this mean my parrot wins?" Gakuto grinned, hugging his parrot. "Yay, You-kun!"

"What's going on?" Ohtori asked, cradling his hamster.

"I think we should call this challenge to an end. It's really just animals flying round and round." Oshitari sighed.

"But that's no fair!" Gakuto whined. "All you guys have points, but when I win you don't even give a point to me!"

"Oh, shut your trap, you little girl." Hiyoshi grumbled.

"Don't talk to me like that, _kouhai_." Gakuto sneered.

"Let's settle this once and for all peacefully!" Surprisingly, it was Ohtori that shouted above the noise.

Once everyone had their eyes on him, he sighed. "Let's just do what we do best, and have a tennis tournament. That way, we can finally decide who gets Mari-chan, and we wont be bothering Atobe-san anymore during practice."

"You know, that's a good idea. Why didn't we think of that in the first place?" Gakuto pondered.

Hiyoshi muttered something under his breath, and then the two began clawing at each other's throats again.

"Yes, brilliant plan, Ohtori-kun." Oshitari smirked. "Did your brain start working properly again, now that _Shishido-san_ is coming back tomorrow?"

Ohtori blushed. "You don't need to put it like that, Oshitari-san…"

Oshitari ignored him. "Alright, tomorrow we will begin our battle! Atobe won't mind if we hold it during practice, he'll be happy as long as we're playing tennis again."

They all nodded. Even Mari-chan seemed to agree.

Tomorrow would answer all questions.

* * *

**A/N Here it is, the almost-last scores:**

**Gakuto : 0**

**Oshitari : 1**

**Ohtori : 1**

**Hiyoshi : 1**

**(Shishido : 3)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Woah, this is a quick update. I was feeling peckish, so I made this right away since I had nothing better to do. Once again, thanks to ****Judge Claude Frollo**** for giving me this lovely challenge, I had a lot of fun writing it.**

**Enjoy the last chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Let's be reasonable now, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter 5 (Final Chapter)

"Ahn? What's this?" Atobe surveyed his team with his eyebrow raised. "Are you actually going to play tennis today?"

Indeed, for the first time in a week, the four Regulars looked ready and wiling to play tennis. Atobe was almost overjoyed. Except…

"What is that vile creature doing here again?" He pointed at the puppy. "Surely Ore-sama has told you that such carriers of swine flu are prohibited from the courts!"

"But, _Atobe-sama_," Oshitari looked at the captain. "Mari-chan is our supporter. She's the one who we're playing tennis for."

"That's true! After this, we promise never to bring Mari-chan, or any other animals to the courts!" Ohtori pleaded.

Since Atobe rather liked people pleading him, he flicked his hair over his shoulder and smirked.

"If that is what you wish." He sighed dramatically. Then he whirled around and glared at Oshitari. "But just this once, alright?"

"Yes sir." Oshitari said back, not fazed at all by the diva's mood swings.

"Alright then. Proceed." Atobe walked away gracefully, thinking he had just done the human race a miracle.

"Now that we've got that out of the way…" Oshitari motioned them over to Court C. He wheeled out a blank whiteboard from behind the court.

"Who's playing who?" At the top of the whiteboard, he wrote, _Tennis Tournament_ in big letters.

Mari-chan woofed her approval.

As the other 3 pondered, Ohtori took out a little blanket from his tennis bag and laid it out on the ground. He took the little platter he had filled with water earlier and laid it beside the blanket.

"Here you go, Mari-chan." Ohtori smiled. "I probably won't get to keep you, since my tennis ability isn't that great, but I hope you'll live happily with your owner."

"What is Ohtori over there, just mumbling quietly to himself?" Gakuto whispered.

"Don't come so close to me, senpai." Hiyoshi moved away.

"I didn't hear you, say it again please?" Gakuto smiled sweetly while leaning in towards Hiyoshi.

"You two can discuss your hearing problems later." Oshitari pushed them apart. "If we don't start planning, practice will be over, and his royal highness Atobe will be royally pissed off."

"So?" Gakuto scoffed.

"Whatever. Let's just plan it." Hiyoshi grunted.

"Ohtori-kun, do you have any preferences?" Oshitari looked at the 2nd year.

"Oh, I want to play Hiyoshi!" Gakuto cut Ohtori off.

"You want to get crushed into the ground that badly?" Hiyoshi glared. "I don't mind."

"Um…" Ohtori paled. That meant…

"I guess we will be playing each other then." Oshitari said pitifully to Ohtori. He didn't really want to crush the little 2nd year so early on, but he had no choice.

"We're playing first." Gakuto and Hiyoshi said in sync, both glaring at each other furiously.

"This'll be fun to watch." Oshitari murmured.

"Yes… indeed…" Ohtori was still stricken with fear at the thought of having to play Oshitari.

The only thing that could save him from falling into a pit of despair was something impossible. Something unthinkable…

* * *

"So you're back, Shishido." Atobe looked down at the shorter Regular.

"Yeah, no thanks to someone." Shishido muttered.

"How was China?"

"It was Chinese. I didn't understand a word they said." Shishido grumbled, yawning.

"You didn't take a course to learn it?" Atobe was shocked.

"I took German instead."

"How unsightly. I will not have you embarrassing yourself at the reputation of our tennis team. Next time you go-"

"I won't." Shishido cut him off and walked past him. His fingers were itching to pick up a racket and play some tennis. It had been so long since he had heard that familiar _plonk_ of the ball, since he had felt that familiar round shape in his hand.

Now, where was Ohtori…?

* * *

"How rude, naa Kabaji?"

"Usu."

"I think Shishido needs to be taught some manners. He said he took a German course, right?"

"Usu."

"Get Ore-sama my phone."

"Usu."

* * *

"I won't let you keep Mari-chan!" _Plonk._

"And you think that pitiful shot can let you have her?" _Bam._

"Don't underestimate me, orange-head!" _Woosh._

"Gekokujou." _Wham._

"Game to Hiyoshi, 4-3."

"Looks like a tough match. It's been a while since they've started, but they've only played 7 games." Oshitari pondered out loud.

"Yeah. I hope they don't overwork themselves." Ohtori said, worried.

"Don't worry; the game will be over soon." Oshitari said knowingly.

"Really?" Ohtori fiddled with his cross. He needed to start warming up.

Getting up, he went to stretch his legs. Halfway down the path to the track, though, he spied a bobbing blue hat in the distance.

Could it be…?

Oshitari smirked, and promptly put his fingers in his ears.

"SHISHIDO-SAN!" Hiyoshi, Gakuto, Shishido and just about everyone in a 100m radius cringed.

"…Ohtori." Shishido managed weakly after Ohtori bounded over to him like an excited puppy.

"I miss- I mean, _we_ missed you!" Ohtori smiled.

"Not really." Gakuto could be heard mumbling.

"Thanks." Shishido smiled anyways. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the whiteboard.

"A tournament? What are you guys doing?"

"We're playing to win Mari-chan." Said Oshitari simply.

"Mari-chan?" Shishido was confused. "What did you guys do in the past week?"

"I won a challenge!" Ohtori said excitedly.

"Me too." Oshitari smirked.

"I kicked Gakuto's ass in Guitar Hero." Hiyoshi put in.

"We found a puppy!" Answered Gakuto.

"…I'm not following." Shishido raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

"Koujirou!" He called out happily. Running over to where Oshitari was sitting, he scooped up a small silver puppy in his arms.

"…Koujirou?" Echoed the other four.

"I missed you, what are you doing here?" Shishido snuggled the puppy.

"Uh, Shishido, is that your dog?" Gakuto questioned.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Shishido's face went back to his normal scowling one.

"But that's Mari-chan." Ohtori pointed out.

"No, this is Koujirou. I don't know what you guys are talking about, but it must have been absolutely dreadful for you to think that this manly puppy is a girl." Shishido scowled.

"So all these challenges have been for nothing?" Hiyoshi frowned.

"I'm still not following what you guys are talking about." Shishido put Koujirou on the ground carefully.

"Let me explain…" Oshitari sighed.

* * *

"He peed on your hand?" Shishido couldn't help but grin.

"Yes." Oshitari said painfully. Curse Gakuto for bringing that up. He'd have to have a long talk with him later.

"That's my boy." Shishido happily petted Koujirou. They had all sat down on the grassy field, and Koujirou was napping in the middle of their circle.

"And you too, congratulations for winning that challenge." After Shishido's praise, Ohtori's face shined.

"Well, isn't this just peachy?" Atobe interrupted their get-together imposingly. "Not only do you ignore practise, forget your promise to me, but you also take time off to play with that… thing!" Atobe pointed at Koujirou.

"Atobe. Chill." Oshitari drawled.

"20 laps." Atobe said as he walked away. Sure, he had overestimated his team mates, but surely they couldn't be ignorant to this extent. He'd have to start being more strict. Maybe he could get Sanada to come over and slap the lot of them while Tezuka made them run laps.

Yes, that was certainly a brilliant idea. His team would finally learn some proper manners. As for Shishido, well, that matter would be settled tomorrow.

* * *

"…Then it's decided. Shishido will be our representative!" Shishido was brought back to Earth from daydreaming with an all too familiar phrase.

"Huh?" He grunted. He looked at the board. "Shishido" and "Germany" had been put in big letters in the center.

He gulped. He'd have to lock up Koujirou when he got home.

* * *

**A/N And that is it, ladies and gentlemen! With an overwhelming 3 points, Shishido wins The Contest Of The Puppy! Thanks for reading, and a big thank you to all the reviewers. I hope you enjoyed it! **


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